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Word count.

Original: 1,602

Re-write: 5,738

Chapter V

Help

Mortis

I untie the rag. Red staining the majority of the previously white material. I put the torn piece of cloth down next to me on the log. I pull my gauntlet off slowly, the tight leather pulls at the wound, making a sharp pain go through my hand. There's blood on my hand, not as much as last time but more then I would've preferred. I reach over to my side and throw another couple of sticks onto the fire.

There's rustling from the trees, I look up at the treeline. The rustling abruptly stops. My right hand strays to my dagger, keeping my left hand propped up on my lap. The sun light makes it easy to see around the woods, meaning that if I did get attacked it'd be more likely that I'd actually have to fight. Can't hide in the dark if there isn't any.

I turn my attention back to the wound on my hand, wiping some of the blood away from the stab wound. It's stopped bleeding for the most part, still bleeding here and there but nothing compared to what it was. I carefully wipe the blood off my ring, the silver shinning slightly after it's uncovered from the blood. I lean back on the log, letting myself relax.

I pull my pack around to the front of the log and pull out the small rabbit. Holding it up by its legs, its limp neck swinging slightly as I lift it up. It's not that big, even as far as rabbits go but it's better than nowt. I lay it down on the log, securing the rag around my hand. I turn back to my dinner and start to skin it as best I can.

The fire crackles loudly in the silent forest, I put another few sticks on it, stoking the flames with my sword. There's a rustling again, I turn my head to face the direction it came from. Nothing. I quickly sort the rabbit out, putting the carcass on a stick and placing it above the fire, turning it every now and then to try and cook it even close to evenly.

The closest hold that's even an option right now would be Dawnstar and even they're being watchful about who comes and goes. I need to get back to the sanctuary, sort out my wound. Talk to Nazir. He and Babette probably think I'm dead by now. I can't even remember how long it's been since I've been back, a year, two years.

I can still hear the whispers. The icy fingers on my spine. The spiders under my skin.

I still need to head back to Fort Dawnguard though. Get my pay from Isran. I suppose he'll probably want to know about the Elder Scroll that Harkon has, he might even pay more for that little piece of information. I pull the rabbit away from the fire and start to pull pieces off of it.

I was within reach of an Elder Scroll all that time and I only questioned it once. That woman, that vampire lead me to a fortress filled with vampires and their thralls and I just went along with it. What was I expecting, she said it was her home. Maybe somewhere in the back of my head I expected a brothel.

That Harkon didn't really seem to care for his daughter, all though maybe he does just doesn't show it. It's not my problem though, none of this is. If vampires do take over Skyrim like Isran said they could, I don't believe they could, the sun would prevent that I could just lock myself in the sanctuary. We've done it before.

There's that rustling again, I look in the direction its coming from and grab my dagger. I put the piece of the rabbit down that I was eating. A woman steps out of the brush, fur armour on her body, a recurve bow held low and an arrow lazily nocked. She looks at me, she's got blonde hair, blue eyes a pretty but hard face. "You alright there?" She calls in a Nordic accent, she looks to the side slightly.

I sit in silence and pull the piece of meat back up, continuing with my small meal. I chew the meat in silence while she watches me. Pulling back on the arrow slightly. I finish chewing the meat and pull out my water skin to wash it down. She watches my movements carefully. "Fine." I grumble, she lets out a small, short, shallow breath.

"I saw you through the trees…" She starts, she trails off as I turn my attention back to the rabbit, pulling another chunk of meat from it. "I saw the blood, thought I should check…" She stops talking as I look back up at her, chewing the meat very slowly. "I'll leave you to it." She mumbles going to turn away. "Word of warning." She starts, looking back at me. "Bears in these parts."

I stand up, she readies herself, adjusting her weight and pulling back on the arrow sharply. I finish off the chunk of meat and start to kick some dirt onto the fire to snuff the flames. She's still watching me closely. "I'll keep that in mind." I say to her, turning my back on her and collecting my pack, and the rest of my equipment. I tuck my torn gauntlet into my belt and pull another piece of meat from the rabbit carcass.

The woman looks at me strangely. I walk past her, slightly brushing her shoulder with mine. I can feel her eyes on my back as I walk away, heading in the direction of my long since abandoned home and duty.

There's the whispers in my skull, I can't tell what they're saying but I know they're telling me to go home.

Come home.

Dawnstar is a cesspool of shit and disease. The constant trade with the other provinces coming through this modest port town, and the close quarters living of the sailors and the inhabitants making disease spread fast. They pick something up somewhere else, spread it amongst the crew and then when they get back half the hold has it.

But it's home, or at least as close to home as I'm ever going to get. I haven't had a home in a long time. I walk past a man, dirty faced and coughing up his lungs. He asks if I have any coin to spare, I ignore him. There's shouting from one of the nearby boats, I can't tell what they're shouting about but it's loud and irritating. A man and a woman are arguing just outside the inn, something about a whore and ten septims.

My boots are loud against the dock as I walk onto it to avoid another elderly sick man who looks like his going to fall dead any moment. I walk past the brothel, many nights spent there. Many nights kicking someone's teeth in there. Some of the guards watch me closely as I walk past, I don't know if it's the Empire or the Stormcloaks they hate and I don't really care. They're both just as bad as each other.

I finally get out of the town and onto the beaches, it's not much better though. The thick black, clumped gravel that makes up the "beach" crumbles under my boots. The rough waves lapping violently at the shore. It always seems dark here even when it's not. Must be the smoke and soot from all the coal burners in the town, creating a thick dark cloud that lingers over the town constantly.

I walk over to where the large, ebony door is. The dark metal locked tight unless you're part of the family. I press my fingers against the metal. The locking mechanism shifts out of place loudly. I can hear the whispers again. Welcome home. I walk into the sanctuary, it's mostly the same as I remember it being. Nothing really of note.

I walk to the main hall, if you can call it that it's really just a more open room then the rest of the sanctuary, I stop at the top of the steps. There's some younger initiates, faces I don't recognise. They watch me carefully as I walk down the steps, I stop in front of them. "Nazir?" I ask, walking closer to one of them.

"In the chambers." She answers, pointing to the far wall. The torture chambers. I nod and start to walk in the direction of the chambers. The floor descends slightly, dropping a few feet. There's a loud scream, echoing through the sanctuary.

I walk into the chamber. Nazirs stood with another one of the initiates, the young man turns to look at me as I walk in. Nazir's too occupied with what he's doing. The initiate watches me, as I walk over to one of the victims, crouching down and inspecting the unconscious woman's face. I turn my attention back to the initiate. "Leave." I grumble out, he does as I tell him, quickly making his way out of the room.

"Ah." Nazir says walking over, I stand up so I can face him properly. "You're alive brother." He says with a small smirk. "We were starting to wonder." I shake his hand, nodding as he talks. "Me and Babette that is, the younger ones don't really know who you are." He mumbles, taking a couple of steps back. He turns back to what had his attention, a man shackled to the wall, a long fresh scar running down his body.

"Been awhile." I grumble, leaning against the wall. I put my hands in front of me, left over right. "How long?" I ask as he roughly slaps the man's face.

He looks back at me, thinking for a few seconds. "Two years, or just under." He stands back up and starts to walk to the main hall. "Too long." He mumbles under his breath. "Any work?" He asks, sitting down at one of the table, the initiates quickly make themselves scarce.

I sit down at the table as well, opposite him. "Here and there." I answer. I put my hands on the table. "Ever heard of the Dawnguard?" I ask him, he sits there for a moment, leaning back in his chair and stroking a hand through his beard.

"Hmm." He grumbles lowly. "Murmurs, here and there." He looks at me. "Who are they?" He asks, looking at one of the initiates as they walk through the hall towards the entrance. He quickly turns his full attention back on me, waiting for an answer.

"They hunt vampires." I tell him, leaning back slightly and pulling my hood down. "They wanted me to do a job for them." I add, looking up at the ceiling. "Five thousand septims."

Nazir nods to himself. "That a good walk away." He mumbles, he sits forward again. There's a brief silence as he picks up a tankard from the table and takes a quick gulp. "What's the job?"

I lean forward in my chair, picking up one of the tankards and tipping it over slightly to see what's inside, it's half empty and looks like some ale. I take a quick swig. "Already done it." I answer. "Hands buggered." I grumble, putting my left hand down on the table to show him. "Figured there might be someone who can sort this." I tell him.

"I can." I turn around to face Babette, her black eyes staring into my own green ones. "Easily sorted." She adds, she gestures for me to follow her. I quickly drink the rest of the ale and follow her closely. She walks up the steps to the top of the perch. The poisoners nook. "So then, what do you want?" She says sitting down in a chair, I sit on the chair opposite her.

I don't answer straight away. "My wants and needs are leagues apart." I tell her, I put my hand down on the table and she starts crushing some different leaves and herbs together in a mortar. We sit in silence, I glance to the side at the large iron and bronze coffin.

"You still hear the whispers?" She asks, I look at her. She's sat waiting for me to unwrap my wound, I slowly unwrap the rag, the threads pulling at the torn skin around the wound. She starts to do her thing with the strange dark brown paste she's made. "They don't normally live as long as you have." She mumbles. "Must be because you've been shirking your duties."

I flinch slightly as she rubs the paste around the wound. "I've never shirked my duties." I argue. She starts to use one of her restoration spells on the wound.

She looks up at me. "Yes you have." She says staring at me, I look to the side. "You were meant to be here leading the brotherhood." She says. She pauses and I look back at her. "You were too busy at the brothel." She carries on with her spell. "Now you've come back because you need help." She finishes, she stops casting the spell and leans back in her chair.

I stand up from the chair, looking at the fresh scar on my hand. I pull my gauntlet out from under my belt, pulling it back on. "I'll be back if I need owt." I grumble to her, leaning down. She frowns slightly and I start to walk away back to the entrance. I rest my now healed left hand on my dagger as I walk up the stairs. There's a small wooden table, a wooden recurve bow and a quiver of iron headed arrows, I quickly take them. Never know if I'll need them.

I walk up to the fort. The Dawnguard watch me closely, crossbows trained on me as I walk along the dirt path. I look up to some of the "soldiers", most of them are kids with armour and axes. If they get attacked by vampires I don't think most of them would survive, one of them at the newly built wooden gate looks no older then seventeen.

"Halt!" He shouts to me, pulling up his crossbow and keeping it aimed on my chest. He shakes slightly as I take a step forward. He's young, his armour looks too big for him and he looks like he's only just learnt how to use that crossbow. He's holding it wrong. He's got blonde hair and looks like he's trying to grow a beard.

"Agmaer!" Durak shouts walking towards the young Nord. He stops a few feet away from him, his arms are full of firewood. "He's an ally." He grumbles to the Nord, Agmaer. Durak gives the firewood to Agmaer and turns to face me. "Isran will want to speak with you." He tells me. "He's at the keep doors." He says, gesturing to the large fort.

I nod to him as I walk through the gates, they've been busy building new fortifications all though most of them are made of wood, probably so they could get them up quickly. I pass quite a few more of the Dawnguard the majority of them don't have complete sets of armour and even more of them don't even have the proper weapons that the "real" Dawnguard use.

They look like they're building a pyre and digging graves. Isran walks down the steps to meet me on the path. "What happened?" I ask as he gets closer.

Isran grumbles something under his chest. "Attacked." He grumbles, he walks over to three bodies covered with white sheets. "Vampires came while we were training the new volunteers." He crouches down and pulls the sheet from the bodies. They have bite marks on their necks. "The old order believed that the body reanimated after death." He says, wiping the back of his hand against his beard.

I walk up behind him and look down. "Believed?" I question, he looks up at me.

"Yes." He grinds out. "Believed." He stands back up and walks over to a cart, pulling out an axe, one you normally use to cut firewood. "They didn't write it down, or if they did the information is long lost to us." He tilts his head slightly. "We know how to prevent reanimation though." He walks over to the bodies and raises the axe. He swings it down onto the first body's neck, severing the head from the body. "You remove the head." He grumbles, moving along to the next body. I just watch him. He does the same thing, and then steps to the last body. "And burn it." He finishes the job, removing the last body's head.

He picks up two of the heads, dropping the now bloodied axe on the floor. I walk over and pick up the last head. "Thought the pyre was too small." I mumble as he throws his two on top of the short wooden structure I follow his lead and put the one I was carrying on top.

He walks over and turns one of the bodies over. "What did you find in Dimhollow?" He asks, grabbing the corpse's arms.

I walk over and grab the legs helping him lift the body. "A woman." I answer, he looks up at me raising an eyebrow. We drop the first body in one of the graves, facing down. "She was in a crypt."

Isran walks back over to the bodies, turning the next one over and we repeat the same actions. "It was a vampire?" I nod in answer to his question. "Did you kill it?" He asks, we carry the body to the second grave and drop it in, face down. I shake my head. He stops walking and crosses his arms. "Why not?"

I look at him. "Figured you'd want to know more." I tell him. "She wanted to go home." I say to him, he raises an eyebrow and goes back over to the third and final corpse.

"So where is this home?" Isran grumbles, obviously hating the situation.

We pick up the body, hefting the weight. "Island near Solitude." I answer. We carry the body over to the graves, dropping it in. "A castle, a big one." I tell him. "The leader, Harkon is in command of quite a large force as well." Isran nods to himself. He walks back over to the cart. "They also have an Elder Scroll." I call to him.

He stands with his back to me. He hangs his head slightly. He stays like that for a couple of minutes before he turns around and walks back over to me, he hands me an iron stake and a hammer and throws another stake into the middle grave. "Through the back of the chest." He mumbles as he walks to the first grave and climbs in. I walk to the third one and place the iron stake against the back of the corpse and start to hammer it in. dark blood pools around the stake as I hammer it in. I climb out of the grave as soon I'm done and walk over to Isran who's in the middle grave finishing off. "We'll need help." He says, looking up at me.

He climbs out of the grave and walks back over to the cart, grabbing a shovel. Only the one. He starts to fill in the graves. "That right?" I ask as he grunts heavily throwing dirt on top of the corpse.

"I need you to find Sorine Jurard." He tells me, looking at me briefly to see if I'm even listening. "Breton girl, whip smart." He pauses as he throws more dirt into the grave. "Good with… tinkering, fascination with Dwemer weapons." He stops and leans against the shovel, frowning slightly as he thinks. "I also need you to find Gunmar, big brute of a Nord." He starts filling the graves again. "Hates vampires, almost as much as I do." He puts the shovel in the dirt and leans on it again. "Got it in his head a few years back that his experience with animals might help" He pushes away from the shovel. "Trolls from what I hear."

He picks the tool back up, pulling it free from the dirt and starts to fill in the graves again. I watch him for a few seconds. "That's all well and good." I mumble, catching his attention. "But you still haven't paid me for that other job." I remind him.

He grunts, obviously he was expecting me to agree to help as soon as I saw the bodies. "They'll be one hundred more septims in it for you." He grumbles.

I smirk slightly. I can get more out of him, if he had people to spare he'd send them not pay me to do it. "One hundred and fifty." I say, he looks up sharply. I probably could've asked for more, but I don't want to bleed him dry. Yet.

"Deal." He grunts, putting his hand out for me to shake.

I shake his hand. "I'll find your man." I tell him. "And woman." I take a step back. "Where should I start looking?" I ask, he lets a small grin spread on his lips.

Isran's directions were about as unclear as they could be. Gunmar's somewhere in the wilderness probably close to the Cyrodiil border. This is a big forest and just being pointed in the direction and being told to find someone isn't exactly the most efficient way of finding someone. Apparently Durak knows these people, probably would've been quicker to send him. After all he found me in a Stormcloak prison.

Although there are ways to work with vague information, luckily enough I've been away from Falkreath long enough that they don't remember me at all. They probably would if I reminded them but I don't really want to be chased out of the town. They said a large Nord came through two days ago, looking for a bear which apparently has been terrorising the locals or something equally as daft.

Apparently the good, kind, hardy folk of Falkreath can't kill one bear.

There's a man up ahead. Scaled armour, a battle axe. Long hair and a long red beard. He's got quite a lot of scars on his arms and the part of his back that I can see. He crouches down and runs his fingers through the mud. I walk up behind him. Not bothering to be quiet.

"You Gunmar?!" I call to him, he turns around slowly, standing up to his full height. Isran wasn't lying when he said he was big. He's massive. He takes a step forward.

"That depends on who you are friend." He answers, walking closer to me. He rests his hand on a long steel knife at his waist.

I lean up against a tree. "Isran sent me." I tell him, he looks taken aback momentarily. "Said he needed your help." I add, if he didn't look taken aback before then he does now.

He laughs lowly, a deep chuckle. "Isran?" He pauses as he laughs, it's a humourless sound. "Needing help?" He leans his hand against a tree. "I'm afraid he's a few years too late. I've moved on friend." He turns around, heading in the direction of a large cave. "I've more important things."

I push away from the tree and follow him for a few steps. "Vampires." I call to his back. He stops walking and so do I, he half turns to face me. "Isran, seems to think it's a big problem."

Gunmar sneers slightly. "He always thinks it's a big problem." He fully turns to face me now. "If he could get past his blind hatred he might actually leave something longer lasting than a trail of bodies in his wake." He takes a step back. "It would have to be big to get me to go anywhere near that man." He adds quietly.

I don't say anything for a few minutes. What does he mean by a trail of bodies in his wake? Isran doesn't seem like the most rational, but to willingly sacrifice his men? He doesn't seem like that kind of man. "They have an Elder Scroll." I tell him, as always I choose the easy, more travelled road. Ignorance is bliss maybe I can fool myself into believing that one day.

He nods his head. "I can't just drop my duties here." He says after a few moments of solid nodding. "These people came to me for help, I have to fulfil that promise."

I lean back my weight onto my right leg. "This that bear?" I ask, he nods again. "It in that cave?" I ask, pointing over his shoulder, he follows my finger and solemnly nods. "I'll kill your bear." I grumble.

"Right." He replies. "Where is Isran? Hall of the vigilants?" He asks quickly, we start walking to the cave, him slightly in front of me.

I shake my head. "Fort Dawnguard, near Riften." I tell him, he stops at the mouth of the cave.

"Aye, I've been there before, back in the day." He grumbles, looking into the cave. "The bear should be in there." He claps his hand on my shoulder. "I'll meet you at Fort Dawnguard." He mumbles walking away, back in the direction of Falkreath.

I swing my bow around and slowly nock an arrow. I step into the cave, pausing to let my eyes adjust to the sudden darkness. The cave itself leads into a larger cavern. It's flooded with at least two foot of water, a slightly raised stone platform in the middle. A large brown bear laying down on top. The mauled body of a Bosmer to the left of the platform, half lying in the shallow water just on the edge.

I crouch down, slightly. Lifting the bow and sliding the nocked arrow back slowly. I aim at the bear, the wood creaks with the tension from the weight I'm using to pull. The bear's ear twitches slightly, it raises its head slowly. I whistle loudly to get its attention, it turns to face me and I release the arrow. It sails forward into the bear's nose, slicing through the soft flesh and slamming into the hard bone, splitting it with a deafening crack.

The bear's head drops down and the body spasms for a few seconds before falling limp and stiff. Blood pools around the bottom of its head and I swing the bow back around to secure on my back. I turn to leave the cave, glancing back at the still warm body of the bear. The creature I just killed for preying on those lower on the food chain.

For following its instincts.

For feeding.

According to Isran, Sorine Jurard is in the reach. What she's doing in the reach he left rather vague but judging by what he told me about her, it'll probably have something to do with the Dwemer. I walk along the ruins, out of all the ones in the reach these are the most easily accessible and the least searched.

There's a large stone and bronze pillar sticking out of the ground, the faces of the Dwemer that they so proudly put onto the majority of their architecture. The bronze is weathered and aged, mostly green from the exposure to the elements. All though for all their technological advancements the Dwemer never seemed to master working with Steel or even Iron.

There's a woman digging around in the mud around the pillar. She's around the same age as Isran, although by the looks of it a few years younger. I walk over to her, she's mumbling to herself. Not sure what about, something about mud crabs.

"Sorine Jurard?" I call once I get within a few feet of her. She turns to look at me.

She tilts her head to the side slightly, looking at me strangely. "Have you seen a bag around?" She asks, frowning in concentration. "Somebody must've stolen it." She mumbles to herself, reaching for a hatchet. She turns away from me.

"What's in the bag?" I ask her, watching her movements concerning the hatchet. She curls her fingers around the handle.

"Dwemer gyros." She answers shortly, pulling the axe closer to her, she starts to talk so that I don't notice the movement.

"If I was going to kill and rob you." I rasp, interrupting her. "I would've done it when your back was turned." She moves the axe away slightly. "When you reached for that hatchet." I say, she pushes it away again.

She turns to face me again, now seemingly not caring about the bag of gyros and the mudcrabs. "What do you want?" She stands up, still holding the hatchet at her side.

"Isran sent me." I tell her. She opens her mouth to say something, but I lift my hand up to stop her. I want to get paid and talking to Isran's estranged friends is just prolonging that. "Said he needed your help." I add, dropping my hand back to my side.

She smirks slightly. "Isran doesn't need any help, he told me so himself, last time his "Dawnguard" was killed in that raid." She shakes her head, the smirk dropping, probably remembering this botched raid. Isran hasn't said anything about casualties, except for the three at the fort. If there has been another group that's now buried upside down somewhere then all the more reason to leave as soon as I can. "And if its vampires again then just remind him that I purposed three scenarios where vampires had the potential to overrun the population." She finishes.

"Elder Scroll." I simply tell her. She looks confused for a few seconds. "What that one of your scenarios?" I ask her, I'm getting bored of the so vampire hunters refusing to hunt vampires.

She quickly opens her mouth and closes it again just as quickly. "I…" She starts but doesn't finish. "Where does he want to meet?" She asks. "That was not something I would've aver anticipated, Isran is right in thinking that he might need help." She pauses for another few seconds. "At the very least I'll know what the threat is."

I take a couple of steps back. "Fort Dawnguard." I tell her, she nods. "Near Riften." I clarify, she nods again this time with more confidence. I should head back now, maybe ask Isran about this raid that by the sounds of it went wrong. Maybe I should start asking questions.

I walk up the dirt path, Sorine is just up ahead, and Gunmar is waiting outside the doors. He sees Sorine and seems reasonably happy to see her. Maybe he just thinks that the more help Isran's gone to get the bigger the problem. Or maybe they know a lot more about Isran and the Dawnguard then I'll ever know.

Sorine gets to the doors and Gunmar pushes one of them open, they walk through and I follow closely behind, always a few feet away. The chamber is the same as it was last time I was here, only cleaned up somewhat. The barrels that were stacked against the wall are gone and in their place a small stack of crates. There's iron-gates down at the three entry ways. Gunmar and Sorine are stood in the middle of the room, they look around slightly. I step towards them and a fourth and final iron-gate slams down behind me, cutting us off from the only exit.

Gunmar looks around slowly, he looks enraged. "All right Isran!" He shouts walking around in a broad circle, pushing against one of the gates. "You've got us here! What do you want?!" He shouts into the seemingly empty fort.

"Hold it!" A voice shouts from the shadows in the balcony above, Isran's gravelly voice. "Right there." He grumbles to himself, the sound carrying in the silence of the fort.

A bright light starts to glow around us, golden in colour, painful to look at. "What are you doing?" Sorine demands almost immediately.

"Making sure you're not vampires!" Isran shouts back at her. "Can't be too careful!" He adds, almost as an afterthought. The glowing continues, getting stronger and brighter before it just abruptly stops.

Isran is silent for a while, not bothering to say anything. Gunmar looks at Sorine and then glances back at me. "Well!?" He shouts, keeping his eyes on me.

"Welcome to Fort Dawnguard!" He announces, finally stepping into view. "I'm sure you've heard a bit of what we're up against!" He calls down to them. "Powerful vampires, unlike anything I've seen before!" He shouts, they don't bother answering or even acknowledging that they've heard him. "They have an Elder Scroll!" He tells them, trying to provoke an answer from them.

"That's all well and good." Sorine answers back, not bothering to shout like the other two. "But do we actually know anything about what they're doing?" She questions, Isran doesn't have an answer. I didn't and I told him everything he knows.

Isran grumbles something under his breath, unheard to us at the bottom. "Get acquainted with the space." He tells them both, seemingly abandoning his shouting and trying to collect himself somewhat. "Sorine, there's room for you to start working on that crossbow design." He tells her, she nods slowly, looking frustrated at the lack of an answer. "Gunmar, there should be room for you to pen up some trolls, get them armoured and ready for use." He tells the Nord, he just grumbles out a short answer.

The iron gates slowly lift up back into the walls, the chains clanking loudly. "Aye." Gunmar, grumbles leaving the room as soon as he can, ducking under the gate slightly. Sorine just follows him, mumbling something about her design as she leaves.

"And you." Isran says, leaning on the balcony wall and pointing down at me. "We're going to get to the bottom of why a vampire showed up here looking for you." He tells me, looking down on me. "Let's have a chat with it." He pushes away from the wall slightly, tilting his head as he looks at me. "Shall we?"